The first three years were a blast. The first year was especially valuable. If you don't want to commit to a ten year plan, just do the first year readings. I also enjoyed the second and third year. Looking ahead to year five, I'm excited for that too. But not this year.
I'm trying to figure out which types of readings are most valuable to me, or which ones do I get the most out of. In no particular order:
- The writings of Plato and Aristotle. I'm glad each year opens up with some back and forth between them.
- Drama and literature. I've learned a lot about Greek drama especially.
- The histories.
- Life advice. I'm not sure how else to describe the writings of Montaigne and Aurelius. Maybe just 'ethics'?
- Political theory. Especially Locke and the other enlightenment writers. And I'm including Mill in there too.
- Science. I simply don't think you can learn as much from primary scientific sources as you can from modern writing. If I was advising someone on how to best understand scientific history, I'd point them towards a modern day overview instead. (Though I am intrigued by what I've heard of the Feynman lectures.)
- Very technical philosophy. This is especially the German philosophers but Thomas Aquinas fits here too. Maybe an overview is a good replacement here too. The sheer denseness of these writers will repel all but the most committed readers. I suspect that the only way I could get something out of them would be to read in a group.
